Given that our trip to Las Vegas was amazing in so many ways, Alex & I decided to add onto that success and head out to San Francisco. Having the opportunity to visit the city after a couple of years was definitely worth it. For not only did I get to enjoy everything for a second time but since I returned as an adult I got to cherish a lot of places that as a child went over my head. While there we got to visit some beautiful places in the city and even got to squeeze in a visit to Napa Valley, which is a definite must if you’re planning a trip to San Francisco! Little did I know that for those who live in San Francisco, Napa is the place to be for many to make day trips. It’s basically the equivalent of what Walt Disney World is for many Floridians, except there’s more wine instead of Mickey Mouse.

Having experienced Napa Valley I definitely can see why it is that locals come so often, it was without a doubt the highlight of our trip. It began with Alex & me renting a car near our hotel in Union Square and driving up to Napa at 3:00AM, having to make it to Napa at exactly 5:00AM. Luckily we made it right on time for our hot air balloon ride which was lifting off at 5:30AM. Being the planning type, Alex had pre-booked our flight through Napa Valley Balloons and the option we got was the one that offered the ride with a post-flight brunch including unlimited mimosas at Domain Chandon California. Before Alex booked our flight, he had done some research as to which company was the best to go with, since there’s so many to choose from. He eventually stumbled across the company we chose because of all their great reviews and a specific pilot that had 30+ years of experience in maneuvering those bad boys. Obviously we were very interested in finding someone who knew how to safely fly the hot air balloons cause plummeting from that height was not in my plans. Not only that but we were also interested in someone who would make the flight 10X better with their personality and that was definitely the case with ours.

Our pilot’s name was Bob and he not only lived up to his expectations but exceeded them. Besides being very knowledgeable in everything hot air balloon related, he was also very funny & was able to make our flight over Napa, which lasted about 1 hour & 20 minutes, very memorable. We flew out 20 miles from our departure location, which was not the same time length or distance as that of other flyers there. Getting to see such amazing scenery over the Napa valley with a beautiful sunrise was truly worthwhile and I’ll definitely cherish this moment for the rest of my life.

After our flight, we filled up on a very delicious brunch and as soon as we got over the various glasses of mimosas we decided to drive up to Castello di Amorosa. Showcasing some of the best wines in all of Napa Valley this authentically styled 13th century Tuscan castle & Winery was a perfect follow up to an already amazing day. The wine alone is totally worth the drive there, since it’s only sold here, but if you need another reason to go then the castle would definitely be it. You get to roam around the castle with a tour guide and learn about the history behind it all. Plus included in the tour, you get to taste 6 different glasses of wine and actually see how they are made.

Although Napa holds about 400+ different wineries, one day alone isn’t enough to actually enjoy Napa to the fullest. But with the very little time that we had in California, one day was totally enough to say that we completely fell in LOVE with Napa. So much so that I’ll definitely be coming back there some day and get to experience the magic all over again that this place has over any who visit it.